Death & Near Death Experineces
by Sam Waterston Fan
Summary: Which of these Camdens have Near Death Experineces? Character death towards end.. Chapter 17 is up! what happens to Eric? Please read and review Ratings change just in case...
1. Default Chapter

**Disclaimer: I do not own 7th Heaven or any of the characters.  
  
This story takes place in February of the 8th season since Simon is a Senior. This story had something to do with Simon running away but I changed it the last minute.  
  
I have never posted a story while it is in progress so I'm doing this the first time. This story is possibly 16 chapters long, I am on the last two chapters trying to finish it..LOL  
  
ON TO THE STORY!!**

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It was two days before Valentine's day , Thursday morning at the Camden household, where Annie was cooking breakfast for Simon, Ruthie, Kevin, Lucy while a cold ridden Eric slept in. Kevin was up earlier getting ready for work so he went into the kitchen where he saw the twins rummaging through the refrigerator looking for something to eat.   
  
Sam whispered to David, "Let's fix eggs for everyone."  
  
Kevin went over, took the carton of eggs from Sam and put them back in the refrigerator while getting the milk, then walked over to the cupboard to get the cereal then fixed their cereal. As Kevin is pouring milk into the boy's bowls, Annie comes down to start breakfast for everyone else. After Kevin left for work, and everyone finished eating, Lucy took the twins to school then went to class herself. Simon took Ruthie to her school before he got to his class at JFK High.  
  
John F. Kennedy High—  
  
"Hey Simon!!" Arthur yelled to him as Simon was at his locker and Arthur was ten feet away walking towards him.  
  
"Yeah?" Simon asked as he took his books from his locker that was two feet long and one foot wide which most lockers were that way as well as in the boys and girls locker rooms.  
  
"We have a party tomorrow night at Brett's house after the late afternoon game. What do you say?" Arthur asked.  
  
Arthur a senior like Simon, was a light skinned African American, had cropped black hair, was slender in built, five feet, 9 inches and had a slight mustache.  
  
"I don't think I'll be able to make it cause I'm not feeling so great. My dad is really sick with the cold and I think I might have gotten it from him.  
  
"Alright, hopefully you won't get sick. See you on the practice field." Arthur said as they both go their separate ways to their class.  
  
Meanwhile at the Roosevelt elementary school—  
  
"Hi." Sam says as a girl sits across from him at the table at school.  
  
"Hi." Linda says then asks as David sits next to his brother.  
  
"Okay, now you have your partners, you will play with the person across from you in groups. So like John, Eric, David and Maria will play with each other. So now go to what you want to play with and play with your groups." Mrs. Farve said then the class got up and got their toys.  
  
While the teacher was talking to a group of children, Sam, David, Linda and Lucy were playing when Lucy hit David.  
  
"Hey! What did you do that for?" David asked, shocked that a girl would hit him and got scared.  
  
"Cause you are sitting on my doll!!"  
  
She had been doing that the last two weeks for reasons other than him sitting on her doll. She would do that cause he would whisper to his brother or even accidentally knocked down her toys.  
  
"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't know I was sitting on your doll." David said as he gave the doll to her.  
  
She hits him again.  
  
"Hey, you better stop!" Sam says then the bell rings for lunch.  
  
They went to lunch in the cafeteria, Sam and David stayed away from Lucy and ate with some kids their age.  
  
Few hours later, Lucy picked up Sam, David and Ruthie since Simon couldn't do it when he was at practice for the game tomorrow. Simon then got home after practice then went upstairs. Eric was taking a nap while the twins played in their room with Erica since Hank was working. John was in the carrier in the kitchen where Lucy and Ruthie could keep an eye on him since Annie and Julie were out.  
  
"Hey guys, Erica." Simon says as he looks in their room and sees them playing.  
  
"Hi." Simon's brothers and Erica respond.  
  
"I'm going to go take a shower, do you any of you need to use the bathroom?"  
  
"No." Sam, David and Erica respond.  
  
Simon went in his room to get a pair of pants, underwear, shirt with him to the bathroom then after he locked the door he took a shower.  
  
After Simon had finished with his shower, he dried off, got the clothes he took with him and put it on then put the clothes he had on in his hamper then combed his hair.  
  
A few hours after dinner, the Hastings went home, Kinkirks went to the apartment and Annie went out with some friends; Simon went to bed early since he wasn't feeling so well. Ruthie went to bed after she got her brothers to brush their teeth then put them to bed.  
  
The twins started to whisper to each other.  
  
"I don't want to go to school. Lucy's mean." David said.  
  
"I don't want to go either."  
  
"Okay but she wasn't mean to you." David said.  
  
"You're my brother and anything you do, I will do it."  
  
"Okay." David said then they both opened the door.  
  
A few hours later, Simon got up to use the bathroom. After he left the bathroom he saw the door was open going to the twins room and he saw that they weren't there.  
  
He went to Ruthie's room to see if they were there but didn't see them then checked the room that used to be the room Ruthie had before leaving the attic and didn't see them. Simon got a little scared so he rushed to check the doors, they all were locked as well as the basement door.

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Where are the twins? Find out in the next chapter.


	2. Feeling sick

A/N:  
  
AmoebaJones: I have answered your question about Roosevelt in my last chapter of 'Bad Summer' but I hope you do read this chapter. I do know there is a private school that has the name of Eleanor Roosevelt but there is a public school named, 'The Roosevelt School'. Ruthie and Simon went to 'The Roosevelt Elementary' School in the first season.  
  
Oh brother, I guess having a character with the same first name as the character on the show isn't a good idea. LOL  
  
**DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own the show or the characters on the show.**

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Just as Simon got on the landing, he heard Eric cough but wondered why he could hear it since when he went to bed the door was closed. He turned towards his parent's room to see it was opened, so he jogged in there to see if maybe the twins were in there and they were sleeping with Eric. He took a relived sigh as he saw his brother sleeping side by side with Eric on his side of the bed with the bathroom light on. They were under the covers as Simon shook his brothers to get them to wake up.  
  
"Hey. What are you guys doing? You know daddy is sick."  
  
"We know. We just got scared." David said sleepily.  
  
"Why didn't you just wake me up or let Ruthie know, we would sleep with you?" Simon said with a whisper.  
  
"Cause you were asleep and so was Ruthie." Sam said.  
  
"Come on, I'll sleep with you." Simon said.  
  
"Okay." David said not wanting to make their brother mad.  
  
After David and Sam got off the bed, Simon closed the door to his parents room just as the twins got into their room, he went in their room, tucked his brothers in. He got the pillow and blankets from his bed as he took it off then laid on the floor between his brothers as they had already fallen asleep. A while later Annie came home checking on Ruthie then Simon's room but noticed he wasn't there so she checked the twins room and saw him sleeping with the twins then went to her room, she opened the door then after she got in she closed the door and went to bed.  
  
The next morning, Simon had woken up a few minutes before the twins so he got up, put his pillow and covers on his bed then got dressed for school then he woke up his brothers. They were groggy and told him they weren't feeling well, Simon felt his forehead and it was warm so he told them to stay in bed and he would go get mom then a few minutes later Annie comes in since Simon went to get her.  
  
"What's wrong?" Annie asked.  
  
"I don't feel good." David says.  
  
"Oh, well. Simon why were you sleeping with the boys?" Annie asked as she felt Sam's forehead with her hand then her cheek then did the same for David.  
  
"Cause last night they were sleeping with Dad and actually I didn't know where they were when I noticed they were not in their bed after I got out of the bathroom. I looked everywhere for them then noticed the door to your room was opened and just took a quick peek."  
  
"I see, that's probably why you both are not feeling good. Why did you sleep with daddy, you know he's sick?" Annie asked as Simon left to eat even though he wasn't feeling good either. He just felt tired and queasy but he didn't eat much of his pancakes that Annie had made and Lucy was making some more since she offered so Annie can look in on the twins.  
  
"Well, cause were scared and didn't want to wake up Simon or Ruthie since they were sleeping too." Sam said after Annie took out the thermometer from David's mouth then looked at it.  
  
Annie then went in the bathroom to wash the thermometer with alcohol she put on the cotton then wiped it. After rinsing it with water and drying it she put it in Sam's mouth.  
  
"Well, I think you boys should just stay in bed for today and maybe you will feel well enough to go to Simon's game." Annie said as she tucked in Sam then David.  
  
"Okay." Sam and David said.  
  
Annie then was about to go downstairs when Eric came out of his room.  
  
"Hi. Honey, how are you feeling?"  
  
"Much better, thanks. That Nyquil sure helped and I'm going to eat with the kids." Eric said as he and Annie went downstairs.  
  
"Well, looks like it's just you and me who are not sick but the twins are in bed." Annie says.  
  
"What do you mean the twins? I thought I heard Simon talking to them or even they were in bed with me but I thought I was dreaming." Eric says as he sits down.  
  
"Well, they got scared, they said. Didn't want to wake up Simon or Ruthie so they went to sleep with you and I think they got their cold from you." Annie said as she put the plate of pancakes on the table then sat down.  
  
"But how did Simon know where they were?" Eric asked confused as he put the pancakes on his plate then syrup as Annie did the same.  
  
"Well, he didn't at first. He saw door open noticing they were gone. He looked in the other bedrooms then downstairs to see if the doors were locked which they were. Then just happened to notice you were coughing to the point he could hear it, then saw the door was open and checked to see if they were in the room, they were.  
  
"So I wasn't dreaming." Eric says as he took another bite as Annie did.  
  
"No." Annie says.  
  
Meanwhile at JFK—  
  
In third period class, Simon was beginning to feel nauseous so he got up and asked for a pass to the nurse, Mr. Malph gave him the pass then Simon got his bag to see the nurse.  
  
As he walked through the hall, he immediately ran to the bathroom that was close by to throw up then after cleaning his mouth and nose, he went walked to the nurses office.  
  
"Hey."  
  
"Hi Joe. Give me one second here and I'll give you your prescription." Mrs. Cleaver said as the nurse, Mrs. Van Pelt came in from her office when she noticed Simon was there.  
  
"Okay." Joe says as he sits down on the chair where the sign in table is and Mrs. Van Pelt came over to see what was wrong with Simon.  
  
"Okay, you have a fever of 99.0 degrees. But let me and Susie check your mouth." Mrs. Cleaver said as she pressed the button to the steel stick to make the cover shoot in the waste basket.  
  
She then got Joe his medicine, he took it with water that she poured in the cup then put his medicine back and signed his pass so he could go to class. She got a little flashlight, a tongue depressor from a tall glass jar that was next to the electric thermometer then had Simon tilt his head back and open his mouth. They looked in his mouth and it was normal, no inflammation of his tonsils.  
  
"I think you should go home and get some rest. Do you want to call your mom?" Mrs. Cleaver said then asked.  
  
"I agree." Mrs. Van Pelt said.  
  
"No, that's okay. She will see me when I get home." Simon says as he takes his bag then the nurse gives him a pass to go home. She went to the small area just outside of the nurse's office to give a note that Simon went home sick.  
  
About twenty minutes later Simon drives home, parks the car in the driveway as he notices one of the vans was gone as he walked in. He closed the door then went to the kitchen to get himself some water then went upstairs. He heard the TV on in his parents' room, saw that his father asleep, went towards his room, noticed the twins were napping as well so he put his bag down, set his alarm, got under the covers to take a nap. 


	3. Who is that red head?

Meanwhile at Walter Reed—  
  
Ruthie went into her locker, opened it, got her books turned around while closing it, she saw a handsome boy with red hair. He was muscular built and about five feet tall. Ruthie looked at him while he put his stuff in his locker then closed it as he walked to class with his back towards her as she thought about him. She had been falling for him since the school came back from Christmas break but she had been too chicken to go up to him.  
  
"I have to find out his name." Ruthie said as she snapped out of her day dream since the bell rang and went to class before the tardy bell rang.  
  
After class she went to her locker, seeing that red haired boy again as he looked at her then she turned away towards her locker that was opened then heard him and his friends walk towards the corner of the hallway. They stopped just to the left across from Ruthie talking as one of his friends had said his name, Eric. They kept talking as Ruthie pretended to keep looking through her locker.  
  
"Sorry, I can't go to the party tonight. I promised my brother that I would go to his game and well, he goes to my football games in the community football league and I feel that I should do the same for him." Eric said.  
  
"What grade is Peter in?" Luke asked.  
  
"This is his senior year. But he has a pretty good team, do you guys know who Simon Camden is?" Eric responded then asked.  
  
"Yeah. He is Reverend Camden's son, why?" Luke said then asked, Ruthie froze when her dad and brother were talked about.  
  
"I remember I was at Peter's house when Mr. Camden came over since Peter's parents wanted to help with the funeral cost for Happy and he just felt really bad that she died."  
  
"Yeah, I heard about that too. It was no one's fault. It was something that was undetected and we didn't notice any standing water where we fished but later we found out it could have been the water we were fishing at." Luke said then they walked towards their classes which were just a few doors down.  
  
Ruthie breathed a sigh of relief as she closed her locker door and went to class.  
  
Two hours before lunch time at the Camden household—  
  
Eric is in the kitchen getting juice cups for the boys who woke him up since they were thirsty. He went upstairs to their room, as he gave them juice, he noticed the double doors were open and looked in there to see Simon was asleep.  
  
"Simon, wake up." Eric said as he shook his son on the shoulder then did it again.  
  
"What is it dad?" Simon asked groggily.  
  
"Why aren't you in school and what time did you get home?"  
  
"I got home about fifteen minutes to ten and I'm not feeling good. I went to the nurse and had a temperature of 99.0 degrees." Simon said while Eric felt his son's forehead.  
  
"Well, you are warm but there might be no game after all cause it is raining."  
  
"It is?" Simon asked in surprise.  
  
"Yep."  
  
"Go back to sleep." Eric says as he goes back into the twins room and they had finished drinking their juice.  
  
Eric took their juice, felt their forehead which was normal then tucked them back to bed and went downstairs where Annie was just coming in through the kitchen with the groceries.  
  
"Hey, need any help?" Eric asked as Annie put the bags on the counter.  
  
"Can you go and get the groceries in the car?"  
  
"Sure." Eric says as he goes outside to get the grocery bags.  
  
Eric helped Annie put the groceries away then when she came back to the kitchen she asks about Simon.  
  
"Did you know that Simon is home?" Annie asked confused.  
  
"Yeah, just saw him before you got home when I brought the twins their juice. He's not feeling good and has a fever. The nurse took his temperature and it's at 99.0 Fahrenheit and his forehead is warm but um.. I haven't taken his temperature. Did you want me to?"  
  
"Eric! He is eighteen years old. He can take his own temperature." Annie responded a little annoyed.  
  
While Eric went into the living room to watch TV, Annie went upstairs to check on the twins, she felt their forehead which was normal and then went into Simon's room and felt his forehead which was a little warm. He woke up since Annie felt his forehead then asked him how he felt.  
  
"I'm feeling better." Simon said then Annie went into the bathroom to get the thermometer then came back in the room.  
  
"Here, put this under your tongue." Annie said as Simon took the thermometer in his hand and put it in his mouth.  
  
A few minutes later Annie tells Simon to take out the thermometer and takes the end that was not in his mouth, turns on the light that was on his night stand and looks at it in the light.  
  
"Well, you have a temperature of 98.5. Do you watch chicken soup?"  
  
"Sure." Simon says then Annie cleans the thermometer and puts it away then checks on the twins.  
  
"Hi boys. How are you feeling?" Annie says.  
  
"Hi, momma. We feel better." Sam and David reply.  
  
"That's good, I'm going—"Annie says then as he hears the car engine, she walks to the window and looks out seeing Eric is driving away in the rain. She then finishes what she was telling them, "I'm going to bring you some chicken soup in a little bit, okay."  
  
"Okay, momma." The boys respond as Annie feels their forehead and then leaves.  
  
Awhile later, the coach called Simon to leave a message that there will be no baseball played which the Camdens and those who were supposed to play knew that it would be canceled. Annie then started making lunch while wondering what her husband was up to.

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**A/N: Okay.. I am too lazy to change the name of the character who has the same name as the dad.. LOL  
  
SORRY!!**


	4. What happened to Happy?

11:15am—  
  
Annie brought up food tray for the boys then had them sit at their table they had then used that tray to bring Simon his soup then she went downstairs to get the boys their water as well as Simon's bottled water. Annie then went back downstairs to eat then just as she finished eating her husband came in.  
  
"Eric, where did you go?"  
  
"To the church to get my laptop." Eric responds as he makes himself lunch.  
  
"Your laptop is in the den. Try again."  
  
"Yeah, I know. I had to run an errand for something. And it's in the garage if you want to look." Eric responds as he sits down to eat.  
  
"I am going to look." Annie says then goes to the garage and sees what Eric did then comes in.  
  
"Well?"  
  
"I can't believe you did that Eric." Annie says in disbelief as she sits down.  
  
"What? Honey come on. This house has been so lonely without Happy and I think Drew will make this house more less lonely and I think Simon should help the twins with Drew."  
  
"Drew?" Annie asks.  
  
"Yeah, it's a two year old Springer Spaniel, housebroken and just needed a home and was spayed before the owner of Drew gave him up."  
  
"So when were you going to show the twins this dog?" Annie asks a little angry.  
  
"I was going to see if they were awake and show it to them." Eric says as he finishes his lunch then puts the dishes away.  
  
"Go get the dog and see how the twins like him."  
  
Eric then goes to the garage to get Drew who was in the kennel then takes him inside to show the twins. He and Annie went upstairs to the twins room where they were playing with their toys since they felt much better.  
  
"Hey boys. Look what I have." Eric says as he sits on the bed with the back to the double doors.  
  
"Oh, a doggie." Sam says as he and David go up to their dad as Annie sits next to him.  
  
"Yeah. I'm just borrowing him. It doesn't mean you can have him, I just wanted to see how you like him." Eric responds as Simon walks in from the doors and goes towards where his brothers are.  
  
"I don't like it when he licks me." Sam says as he laughs when the dog jumped and licked him, he did the same to David while they pet him.  
  
"I have to take him back but I'm glad you like him. And I'm sure that Simon would love to help you take care of him." Eric says as he picks up the dog and puts him under his arm.  
  
"Simon, if we get a doggie will you help us take care of him?" David asked.  
  
"Sure." Simon says as he goes back to his room, closes the double doors, the twins go back to playing as Annie felt their forehead while Eric took the dog back to the car.  
  
Twenty minutes later Eric comes home to find Annie watching TV so he sat down next to her to watch it with her.  
  
"Eric, where did you put Drew?" Annie asked.  
  
"I took him to the pound and they are going to hold him for me."  
  
"So what if Simon goes away to school, who will take care of him?" Annie asked.  
  
"I'll do it."  
  
"Very good." Annie says as they watched TV.  
  
"Well, one thing is for sure, I'm not going to take the dog fishing." Simon thinks to himself in his room as he falls asleep.  
  
"Hey mom why can't I have a dog? I'll take good care of it and I'll walk it. Please I really want one." A young 10 year old Simon asked and pleaded.  
  
"Because you are too young."  
  
"Please God, just let a dog come into our yard today, I really will take care of it and not let it die." Simon prayed in his room that he shared with Ruthie.  
  
"Happy, come here girl. Happy. Happy, what's wrong?" 18 year old Simon Camden said as he called Happy from the twins room. Went to check on her since she didn't respond, she was asleep in his room on the bed that he does NOT sleep on.  
  
"Simon?" Eric comes in as he sees his son day dreaming since he was not sleep.  
  
"Oh yeah dad?" Simon says after snapping out of his daydream as he sits up with Eric sitting on the head of the bed facing him.  
  
"Look, I'm sorry I didn't talk to you about getting a dog for the boys. I guess I just miss having an animal in the house and I just didn't think about it.  
  
"It's okay dad. I really don't mind helping Sam and David if you get the dog. I love you dad."  
  
"I love you too son. And you know that it wasn't your fault that she died and we told the twins that she had a heart attack." Eric says then stands up and leaves to go back downstairs to finish watching TV.  
  
Few hours later dinner time came, everyone including Kevin ate and later stayed up since it was not a school night and went to bed later.

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Please Read and Review!! 


	5. Suprise!

Valentine's Day---

Kevin went into the house to cook breakfast for Lucy then after he was done cooking, he put the dishes with food on the tray and went to the garage apartment and as Lucy was waking up to a sun shining in her face as she saw Kevin come up with the food. She rubbed her eyes and smiled at her husband.

"Happy Valentine's day sweetie. That is so sweet thank you." Lucy said as she sat up and Kevin set the tray on her lap.

"Here are some flowers for my sweetie, you're welcome." Kevin says as he kisses her and she kisses him back.

"Have a good day." Lucy says as Kevin leaves to go to work.

In the kitchen—

Sam and David already awake in the kitchen. Sam dragged the chair to the counter so he could get the bowls and glasses that were in the cupboard. David then got on the chair, leaned forward and picked up one bowl and dropped it as it slipped out of his hands onto the floor.

"What was that noise?" Simon asked himself since he was half awake when he heard the crash.

David got another bowl and put it on the counter then as Sam got the cereal and milk, while David got another bowl down. David was standing on the chair, Sam gave him the milk, poured the cereal in one bowl then held on to it as David poured the milk but it went in the bowl so fast that David ended up pouring the rest of the milk on Sam as he dropped the bowl again.

After hearing that crash again, Simon got up checked his brothers room and went downstairs since he saw it was empty.

"Oh man." Simon said quietly as he ran downstairs through the kitchen then sees the mess, his brother who were covered with milk and both in tears.

"Oh guys. Why didn't you wake me up? It's morning and I have to keep an eye on you." Simon asked then said.

Simon picked up Sam and put him on the counter after checking to make sure it was clean of shattered bowl fragments then sat him on the counter. He wiped Sam's feet as he giggled since he was being tickled while David stood on the chair. Simon cleaned the area with a wash rag then after making sure there were no bowl fragments he put them down on the floor.

"Go and change." Simon tells them.

"Simon, we want to make breakfast for mommy and daddy." Sam says as David shakes his head.

"Well, you are not going like that." Simon says then Lucy just walks in with a tray in her hands with plates and silverware on it as well as a cup.

"Hey, what's going on?"

"We were trying to make breakfast for mommy and daddy. Do you have any milk?" Sam asks.

"Sure, I can get some and I can make it and you guys can help me bring it up to them."

"Okay." Sam and David respond then Sam goes upstairs to get changed then comes back down to help his brothers and sister with breakfast.

Ruthie had gotten out of her room after her day dream about the red headed boy and went downstairs to have breakfast that Lucy had made. Ten minutes later Lucy and Simon took the trays upstairs to the landing then the twins who followed behind stood in front of them as they got to the landing. Sam held the tray on the handles as did David with the other tray and Simon opened the door to their parents room and both twins walked in. Lucy cooked breakfast for the twins and Simon then left for the day.

"Happy Valentine's Day!" Sam and David said out loud as Eric and Annie woke up.

"Hey, did you cook that?" Eric asked David as he sat up and took the tray from him and set it on the bed.

"Yeah." David responds as Sam gives Annie the tray after she sits up and sets the tray on her lap.

"Thank you boys." Eric and Annie said as the twins left the room.

"Welcome, bye." Sam says as he and David leave the room, Sam closes the door.

"So do you think Lucy helped with breakfast?" Annie asked after she took a bite of her food.

"Yeah." Eric said as he took a bite.

About ten minutes later Simon cleaned up the kitchen while Ruthie was in the living room watching TV and the twins were in their room. After Eric and Annie finished eating they got dressed then took their plate out to the kitchen.

"That was good breakfast." Annie said as she and Eric came in with the trays.

"When are we going to celebrate the twins' birthday?" Simon asked while he rinsed the dishes, cups and silverware and put them in the dishwasher.

"We are going to order pizza for dinner and the Hastings are coming over. I have to go to the office to get something, I'll be back Annie." Eric says as he leaves then he comes back 10 minutes later while Annie was in the living room watching TV.

"Here you go, a dozen roses for my sweets, check this out too." Eric says as he comes into the living room with the roses behind him as he showed it to her.

"Oh Eric! What a nice surprise. Thank you. Oh a week vacation to the beach house! Oh Eric thank you!! I love it!" Annie stood up as Eric showed her the roses, got so excited she hugged and kissed him.

The birthday party for the twins started with everyone as they gave them gifts. The twins got spider man toy from the Hastings, a police toy car from Kevin/Lucy, a detective kit from Simon who told them not to play it away from the house as everyone laughed, Ruthie got them a heart shaped cookie and Eric went to get the dog and came back as the two boys were excited when they say the dog.

"Yay!! Thank you mommy, daddy." The boys said as they hugged everyone and kissed them.

Few hours after the Hastings went home, Lucy and Kevin went to their garage apartment, the Camden kids went to bed. The twins went to sleep with Drew sleeping on David's bed, Simon had the double doors open as he slept. Ruthie slept in her room and Eric and Annie slept in theirs.


	6. Can we party that mom & dad are gone?

**I am so sorry for not even updating even if this story is finished. I will try to do better and since I waited so long, I will post another chapter after this... I really hope I can get in a writing mood for my Law & Order story after I finish my computer class..**

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Friday of March 14-

After Ruthie, Simon and the twins came home, Eric put the luggage in the car, came in and talked to Simon and Ruthie while Annie talked to the twins.

"Simon, you and Ruthie are not allowed to go to any parties while we are gone, no friends can stay over and no ditching school either." Eric says as he sits on the couch with his two children sitting on the other couch across from him.

"Okay dad." Simon says as Drew came into the room and laid down next to Simon's feet.

"Okay, I talked to Sam and David and made sure they knew that we were coming back. They are worried that we won't come home but if anything happens, you know where Lucy and Kevin are as well as the Hastings'." Annie says as she walked into the room with the twins behind her.

"Well, I guess we better get going." Eric says as he stands up then they walk to the door as Drew trailed behind just looking then sat down.

"Bye boys. You be good to your brother and sister, and we will be back next week." Annie says as she hugs Sam then David as they hugged her back.

"Bye." Eric says as he says goodbye to his kids then while Annie was hugging Ruthie and Simon, Eric hugged Sam and David.

Few hours later Simon the phone rings.

"Hello? Oh hi Mr. Cunningham. Oh really? Okay, what time? 2pm at the Kennedy baseball field? Okay. Sunday at 10am. Thank you bye." Simon says then hangs up.

"So when are your games, do you know?" Ruthie asked when she came downstairs to find out if there were any games.

"Yeah, tomorrow at 2pm and Sunday at 10am."

"So maybe the twins and I go with you tomorrow and we go to church on Sunday since we promised Lucy?" Ruthie said then asked.

"Sure."

"I guess I better call Lucy and tell her I can't make it." Simon says then calls Lucy to tell her that he can't come on Sunday cause he has a game.

"Okay." Ruthie says as she goes to check on the twins who were playing in their room, Drew was sleeping in the middle of the floor.

"Hello Lucy? Hey, are you going to come to the game tomorrow at 2? I won't be able to go to church cause I have a game." Simon said.

"What!? You have a stupid baseball game on Sunday!! Tell them to cancel it and I am not going to your game tomorrow. You will have to take Ruthie and the twins. Bye!!" Lucy shouts then hangs up.

"Wow. I hope she doesn't come tomorrow, jeez. Looks like it's time to put the boys to bed." Simon said as he looked at his watch and got up to go to the twins' room.

"Simon, can we eat in our room?" Sam asked.

"No. You had dinner you can only eat in the kitchen. If you are hungry, I can get you an apple cause that is all I will give or wait till morning." Simon tells them.

"Okay we want an apple." David said then Sam responded he wanted an apple too.

Simon, David and Sam went downstairs to the kitchen, Sam sat on the chair as did David while Simon got an apple, washed it then cut it in half then cut it into strips. He then put it on a plate towards the corner of the table where his brothers can reach and eat it. A few minutes later, the boys left the kitchen, went upstairs where Simon happened to be in his room reading and told them to brush their teeth and get ready for bed which they did.

"Go say goodnight to Ruthie and I'll tuck you in." Simon says then they came back a few minutes later after saying goodnight to Ruthie and Simon tucked them into bed and told them goodnight and he loved them.

Simon left the double doors open enough so Drew could come into his room as well as he could see the twins in the morning, he and Drew went downstairs to the kitchen. Simon let Drew out then washed the plate, put it in the dishwasher and went upstairs. After going upstairs to get ready for bed, he went downstairs to the kitchen to let Drew in then locked all the doors and they both went to the living room to watch tv while lying down. After awhile Simon had fallen asleep and Ruthie also went to bed after she was talking on the phone with her friend. Simon eventually woke up during the night, turned off the TV, he and Drew went upstairs to go to sleep where Drew slept near the foot of his bed.

Two days later—

Drew, licking Simon's face caused him to wake up, noticed his brothers were getting out of bed. He, Drew, Sam and David went downstairs to see Kevin making breakfast then let Drew out.

"What time are you playing?" Kevin asked just as the twins came down as did Ruthie.

"9:30."

"So what position are you playing? Outfield?" Kevin asked as he made a plate for Ruthie while Simon got some cereal for the twins.

"Outfield." Simon said as he got the spoons from the drawer, got the bowls from the cupboard then both bowls and spoons down on the table in front of Sam and David, poured the cereal and the milk in the bowls.

They all started to eat soon after Lucy came in, after Simon finished eating he went upstairs to get ready. Drew was let in by Sam who wanted to let him in then he, his brother and sister went to get ready for church. Drew followed the boys to their room, ten minutes later Simon left for the game then his siblings and Kevin left for church.

During the game Simon and four of his team mates hit for singles and a double as well as scored three runs then in the final inning Simon was up to bat. Simon was in his batting stance, the pitcher got ready as the catcher was just off the right of Simon, behind the plate as was the umpire. The pitcher got his wind up started then threw the ball, Simon was watching the ball, just as he was about to swing it, he realized it was going to hit him in the ribs but it was too late cause the ball hit him in the ribs. Simon dropped to the ground in pain and agony.


	7. Where have Sam and David gone to?

"Aaah. Ooooh." Simon winces in pain as his coach and trainers come out to check on him.

The pitcher looked on; all the infielders and outfielders looked on while the shortstop told him it was an accident and that Simon would be okay. The umpire and catcher had their masks off, under their armpit then the umpire opened his small notebook to make a note of the injury. The manager put another player in Simon's spot that would be at first base since a player gets hit, he automatically goes to first base. The coach and trainer helped Simon to the dugout as his team mates looked on while the trainer looked at the bruising and put ice pack on it from the medium sized cooler. The teams started playing again while the trainer and coach attended to Simon and one of Simon's teammate's dad and mom came over to see if he needed to go to the hospital. His team mates looked on while sitting on the bench, as his team mate who is to bat got ready near the dugout to put their batting helmet and gloves on while Jeff was at the on deck circle, which is a few feet away from the dugout and home plate just off to the side.

"I'm going to be okay. It just hurts." Simon says as he takes off his batting gloves and throws them and takes his batting helmet off and throws that.

"I think you better go to the hospital, this is a pretty bad bruise." Chuck, the trainer said just as the final out of the inning was made and his teammates went back on the field.

"I'm fine just hurts and I don't want to go to the hospital." Simon says as the first out was made by a fly out to right field.

After the last out was made, the two teams gave each other high fives for a good game then went to the dug out to get ready to leave. Then two of Simon's teammates helped him up to his feet then they walked to their cars where Simon was told that Jeff would drive him to the hospital and his parents would follow behind. Simon was given the paperwork for the insurance stuff as well as vital information as to his doctor's name and his residence. Jeff opened Simon's car door on the passenger side, Simon gingerly sat down and Jeff gave him the seat belt so Simon won't aggravate the injury while reaching for the seatbelt.

"Hello, how may I help you?" The receptionist asks as Simon gingerly walks to the desk while Jeff went to sit down as his dad stood by Simon.

"I need to see a doctor because I got hurt at the game today. Here is the information my trainer filled out." Simon says as he gave the receptionist the paperwork.

"Okay, the nurse will be with you shortly to take your temperature and blood pressure. Who is with you?"

"My friend drove me while he and his dad are here." Simon responded in a little pain.

"The nurse will see you now and the doctor will be with you shortly."

An hour later—

Simon, Nathan and Jeff left to go home after getting the prescription for the pain but Jeff went to get some burger and fries before getting to the Camden home.

Jeff and Simon got home; Jeff let Drew out with Simon's permission while Simon went to change since he was not in pain. After Simon finished changing, Nathan came with the food a few minutes later then Simon thanked them as Jeff let Drew and they left while Simon ate.

Soon after Simon finished he threw away his mess, got his water and took his prescription while Drew sat looking at him; Simon picked up Drew's water bowl and filled it with water then put it on the floor. After locking the front and back doors, Simon went upstairs to get another change of clothes from his room, went in his bathroom then took a shower.

The next day—

After Lucy called the school to tell them that Simon would not be in school that week, she took her siblings to school while Simon slept in.

Wednesday morning at the Roosevelt school—

The kids had playtime where Lucy saw that Sam was playing with a toy she was playing with yesterday and she hit him.

"Hey, what are you doing?" Sam asked.

"I want my toy back!!"

"You had it yesterday, I'm playing with it now." Sam said.

"Give it to me!" Lucy then hits Sam a few times on the back side area and neck.

"No!" Sam says then hits her back.

"Sam, you need a time out." Mrs. Farve said as she saw Sam hit her and put him at the corner.

"But Mrs. Farve, she hit me first." He protested.

"No, you hit her." Mrs. Farve said then went back to talking to the other children.

_Why does she keep hitting me? I did nothing wrong._ Sam thinks to himself in the corner.

"_My brother is in the corner because of what Lucy did. I hate her._ His brother thinks to himself.

It was recess time for the kids including the twins at Roosevelt school as the kids played outside and once again, Lucy was the mean kid. After she hit a few kids, she saw David playing on the bicycle that she played with the day before and went up to David as a few kids were watching.

"Hey, I was playing with that!!" Lucy yelled at David as she pushed him off the bicycle.

"Hey. Stop that. He was playing with it." Sam says as one of the kids went inside.

Few minutes later the kids went back inside then the teachers of the classes took roll. Mrs. Farve took roll then—

"Sam Camden?" No answer.

"David Camden?" No answer.

"I saw them leave while we were at the playground. Lucy was hitting some kids and she pushed David off the bicycle."

"I see." Mrs. Farve said then went to the small office that had a telephone where she called the office.

* * *

**A/N: I didn't feel like changing the name of the girl who hits the twins. Sorry.**


	8. Will Kevin die?

Looking around with a white hospital gown on, in a white empty place, Kevin asks, "Hello, anyone here?"

"Hi Kevin."

"Hey, what happened to you?" Eric asks.

Kevin then turns around shocked to see his mother and father in law.

"What happened to you too?" He asks shocked then a ghost appears behind Kevin.

"See you later. I have to go see my parents." Annie says as she walked towards her parents, Eric had stopped a minute.

"We were gassed to death by carbon monoxide as we slept. Oh, there are my parents who are with Annie's parents. Later." Eric then walked away to see his parents.

Minutes later…..

"Daddy!! Daddy!! Wait!! Wait for us!!" Sam and David run past Kevin towards their parents.

"How weird. I hope they aren't dead." Kevin says as he walked around, then started to look down.

"Mrs. Kinkirk?" The doctor asked.

"Yes. Is he going to be okay?" Lucy asked choking with tears streaming down her face as she sat in the waiting room with Detective Michaels seated next to her.

"Well, he lost a lot of blood and he is stabilized but is in a deep coma. We did take the bullets out and I have no idea as to if he will live or die. You can see him for a few minutes."

Detective Michaels and Roxanne got up as Lucy did, she walked out with the doctor who showed her the room while she felt numb walking to see Kevin. She saw the tubes taped to his mouth, oxygen tube in his nose and an iv in his wrist. She walked in the room, sat down on the cushioned chair, looked at him and thoughts started going thorough her terrified mind.

What happened? Detective Michaels and Roxanne came over, I'm so scared. I don't know what I will do if Kevin dies. I wish mom and dad were here. I really need to get a job, maybe I should do that but where? I have to call Ben and Patty Mary but what do I say, how do I say it? Oh Daddy, I wish you were here! I need you too mom but I think you two deserve some time to yourselves. She thought to herself.

Lucy sighed then as tears started to flow and the heart rate machine started it's fast beeping then doctors came in and Lucy looked at Kevin as the nurse pulled her out of the room. "What's going on?"

"Please wait outside and the doctor will be with you." The nurse said as she shut the blinds.

Detective Michaels walked over to Lucy held her as he walked her over to the waiting area. He, Lucy and Roxanne prayed that Kevin would be okay even though Lucy had tears streaming down her cheek.

The nurse opened the door to the waiting room and called out, "Simon Camden."

Simon got up with a little pain and followed the nurse to the nurse's station where his blood pressure, temperature was taken was well as measurements of his height and weight. Simon made the appointment Monday morning so he could just get a check up and there happened to be an availability that day. He told the doctor that the pain was still sharp but manageable and he has put ice on it as well as stayed home. The doctor had Simon take x-rays of his ribs then the doctor examined it and it was healing but very slowly. The doctor gave him another prescription then told him that he should be able to go to school starting Monday but may not be able to play for a month to a month and a half.

As he walks back through the waiting area, then around the corner from the receptionist's desk he sees one of the officers visibly upset and approaches her. "What's wrong?"

Karen Brady, a 10 year veteran, leaned her back on the wall and said, "Kevin was shot and doctors are trying to save him." Simon gave her a hug as she hugged him back.

"I'm sorry about what happened. Kevin happens to be my brother in law, do you know where the waiting room is, I'm sure Lucy is there."

Simon arrived at the waiting room as he opened the door to see Lucy being consoled by Detective Michaels.

Lucy ran over to Simon, they gave each other a big hug, "How did you know about Kevin?"

"I saw one of the officers who was visibly upset and she told me where the waiting room was. I wanted to see you and see if things have changed." Simon responded as Lucy held him and cried.

"Well, I went to see him and something happened cause all the doctors just came running in and the nurse just dragged me out."

"I'm going to go call Hank or Julie and see if they can pick up Ruthie and the twins and just have them home for the rest of the week." Simon says.

"Okay. If Ruthie wants to come, she can but tell her that she might not be allowed to see Kevin cause of the hospital rules." Lucy says as Simon walks to the pay phone inside waiting room as Lucy walked over to sit next to Michaels and Roxanne.

Simon had called Julie, told her what had happened and she told him she would take Ruthie and the twins home but he told her if Ruthie wanted to come, she could but he wasn't sure if she could see Kevin in his room cause of her age. He hung up, Michaels sat on the other side of Roxanne, Simon sat where Michaels sat, next to his sister as he put his arm around her and she put her head on his shoulder.

* * *

I'll try to update it once a week.. sorry for the long delay...


	9. Strange dreams

Gosh!! I'm so sorry for the long update… amazing how time flies… I'll give you all 2 chapters….

* * *

Julie was talking to one of the office workers and told her that Ruthie will be back on Monday since she has no idea if the shooters know the Camdens and wanted to be safe. Ruthie walked up, looked at her aunt, who put her hand on Ruthie's shoulder and told her some bad news.

"I'm afraid that Kevin was shot in a police shootout with suspects who were killed and he is in the hospital. Lucy and Simon are there and Hank is going to pick up the twins. Do you want to be with Lucy and Simon?"

"Yeah, I do." Ruthie says then they both left for the hospital.

Oh, I knew it. Oh I hope Kevin is going to be okay. We are like ten minutes away from the hospital. It would just kill Lucy if he dies and I wonder what she is thinking right now. I'm so scared for her and everyone else, who were those guys that shot Kevin? Was it Johnny? The one who shot dad? No, it can't be, he's not even in Glen Oak and hopefully gets help. I wish mom and dad were here, I know they would have been here for Lucy and praying that Kevin is okay. Ruthie thought to herself.

"Okay, we might have a sighting of the two boys at a park a few blocks from the school. Do you copy?" Officer McNown talks on his radio.

"Copy, let us know if it's confirmed."

"10-4." The officer and his partner responded as they parked the cruiser, got out and locked the door.

As the officers were walking to the playground area where the swing sets were, the twins were swinging on their stomach on the swings like they were airplanes. The twins got off the swings as the officers approached the them and they looked at the officers.

"Are you here to arrest us? Our brother in law is a police officer." One of the twins Camdens says while the officer with McNown gets on his radio to state they found the twins.

"No, we are going to take you back to school."

"Oh." The runaway twins say in sadness.

Minutes later they are taken back to the school, when they walked in they say Hank at the desk.

"Uncle Hank! Uncle Hank!!" Sam and David run up to him as he bends down and hugs them. "What were you guys doing?"

"We got hit by a girl and got in trouble." David says.

"Well, you should have talked to someone but we'll talk about that in a little bit. Let's see what they are going to do first."

A few minutes later they went in the class room, the teacher and Lucy apologized, the twins took their apology then Hank told them to get their bag pack. They left the school being taken home by their uncle. Lucy's parents were called and she later got yelled at by her parents then she was not allowed to go to a friend's party that she was invited to.

"Okay, now sit down on the chairs, we need to talk." Their uncle says as he goes through the kitchen door while the twins go in and Drew was let out.

Sam and David sat down on the chairs as their uncle just across from them.

"Boys, hitting a girl and running away is not the right thing to solve a problem—"

"But Uncle, she hit us first!" Sam says with anxiety in his voice.

"It doesn't matter. You don't hit anyone for any reason, if you have a problem you talk to a teacher even if she doesn't believe you."

"Okay uncle Hank. Does our mommy and daddy have to know about this?" Sam's brother asked.

"Yeah, if I don't tell them, the school will. Why don't you guys go play for now and I will make you lunch." Julie's husband responded.

At the hospital—

Ruthie and Julie walked in the waiting room where they saw Detective Michaels, Roxanne, and Simon holding Lucy then Ruthie ran over to her sister when they saw her and they hugged. After Julie talked to Lucy, gave her a hug she left to get her kids then took them to visit their cousin.

"What happened? Should we have had Hank call mom and dad?" Ruthie asked as she sat next to Detective Michaels who moved to the chair opposite of Roxanne.

"I don't know. I mean they deserve time together but…--". The second youngest son said.

Kevin's subconscious

Kevin had looked at Eric and Annie in a confused look as they passed him since he was wondering if they were really gone even though it had been awhile since he had seen the twins. He turns around and sees a man.

"Dad? Is that you?" Kevin asks as he seems a man who looks familiar to him.

Kevin had remembered seeing pictures of his father before he was killed and was happy to see him but his father was shocked.

"Kevin?" Joseph, Ben and Kevin's dad asked as he turned around. He has black hair, brown eyes and was a little shorter then Kevin but was a little bulky.

"Hi, wow."

"What are you doing here? What happened to you?" Joseph asked while Eric and Annie had passed them.

"I really hope they are still alive." He thought to himself then answered to his dad, "Well, I was with my partner, Roxanne and we were in a car chase. After the two suspects had crashed the car they ran to the front of the car with their guns drawn. More officers arrived and the suspects started to fire when Roxanne shot the one who was running backwards as he fired. While that was happening I ran after the driver with my weapon drawn then just a hundred yards from where the car was, I heard four shots, it felt like my chest was on fire and I don't remember what happened afterwards."


	10. Are mom and dad home?

It was a windy, rainy Friday night as Lucy who came home from seeing her still comatose husband was watching TV with Ruthie and their three brothers were upstairs in their rooms.

"Where is mommy?" Sam whined asking his big brother who was in his room doing his homework as the twins were standing near him.

"I'm sure mommy and daddy are fine. I'm sure they are having fun, they will come home and it may be awhile cause it is raining." He replied as he erased a math problem he did wrong.

His brothers then went in their room to play then finally about an hour later they heard two car doors slam then minutes later the front door opened and they ran downstairs to see Annie walk in.

"Mommy you're home!! We missed you!!" Her twin boys welcomed her home as did Simon, Ruthie and Lucy. Sam went to the front door as everyone went to the kitchen then he joined them.

"So where's dad?" Lucy asked as her twin brothers were on Annie's lap, Simon and Ruthie across from their mom.

"He should be inside. He just had to get our luggage but I wonder what's taking him so long."

"Who cares mommy. We want to know what you did?"

"Hey. That's not nice! I'm going to put you both to bed if you act like that, do you understand?" Their mom says in a stern voice as the door is heard opened and closed.

"Daddy!! Daddy!! I'm so glad you are home!! I love you so much!!" Lucy saw her dad was home and hugged him as he was walking in the kitchen.

"Hey, I didn't realize you missed me that much Lucy."

"Say mom, we'll take Sam and David to bed for you." The youngest daughter responded.

"No. We want mom to put us to bed." The twins protested.

"It's okay. I'll put them to bed."

"Okay." The youngest daughter responded.

Hours later—

Everyone was asleep but Eric and Annie as they laid on their bed thinking while Lucy was sleeping with Ruthie in her room since she felt lonely. It was dark as the rain had already gone away, the moonlight shown through the window as Eric was under the covers on his side with his back to Annie and she is on her side with her back towards Eric.

_I can't believe Kevin was shot, it will crush Lucy if he dies, I'm so scared for her and Kevin's family. They are staying at a hotel and will just wait and see what happens to him. I'm so mad at Eric and the service at the resort we went to. I wish Eric had just said forget it and we could have gone somewhere else. I really, really wanted to spend time with him alone, since Wednesday we had been fighting. Eric should have taken me somewhere else instead of staying there. Why did he want to stay? It was horrible. I can't believe that Eric is already asleep, what is wrong with him? _Annie thought to herself.

Unknowing to Annie, Eric was not asleep, he was awake thinking about his son in law and his daughter.

I had heard about the resort we went to and people raved about it being great which it wasn't. Unless you consider cold food that is supposed to be hot to be okay or plumbing that needs to be fixed to the point that it stinks when toilets are not flushed. I don't know why we stayed there, we shouldn't have but Annie seemed to have a good time for some reason. I just wish she would have said something, it drove me crazy that whole time and I wish they could have fixed everything within the next day of us arriving but the overbooking was really out of control. Couldn't cuddle in my wife's arms for that week or make love cause we had a couple sleeping in a bed in another room when we were supposed to have that condo type place to ourselves. I was really stunned as to what happened with Kevin but it made sense as to why Lucy raced to hug me and welcome me home since they twins didn't do that at all, that hurts. I hope Kevin will be okay and I think I can help Lucy get through it if he dies. He thinks to himself.

The next morning Annie wakes up to see that Eric was not in bed, assuming he was downstairs she goes to see if he was there but he was gone and she was not happy. During lunch time Annie was in her room unpacking, Simon walked in.

"Hey mom." He sat down on her side of the bed since she was unpacking from that side.

"Hey. What are you up to?" She asked as she took her shirts and put them in the hamper which was in the bathroom.

"Last Sunday I got hit by a pitch and will be out for another five weeks and the twins were caught hitting a girl then ran away from school grounds on Wednesday."

"OH NO!! I don't believe this!!" Annie screamed then her husband ran in the room so fast he ran into the side of the wall.

They look at him when they hear a thud then look at each other.

"But mom, it's okay. My ribs are healing and Hank talked to the twins about hitting people and running away."

"What is it? Who hit who and ran away? Who hurt their ribs?" He asked as he looked at his wife and son.

"You know what this is your fault!!" She points as she yells at him then continues unpacking and Simon leaves the room thinking it wasn't such a good idea but stood just outside the door to watch his parents since he noticed they didn't seem to happy with each other.

"My fault? Why?"

"It just is." She left the room after unpacking, leaving Eric all by himself, stunned.


	11. Chapter 11

Camden-girl— Kevin was dreaming about Eric and Annie being dead as well as the twins. Sorry for the confusion.

Sorry for the long wait, I will give you another chapter...

* * *

**Sunday Morning— **

Kevin's mom, siblings and Lucy were at the hospital waiting for him to wake up while the Camden clan got to church and Eric was meeting a detective who had left a message for him when he was gone.

**At the hospital—**

Lucy and Ben were at one side of the bed, his mom and sister were on the other side while they sat on the hospital chairs and waited. The room was as big as Simon's room, with a white coat of paint and the floor was made of Terrazzo like one you would see in a school. The heart monitor was on one a few feet from the head of the bed, the oxygen machine and iv were on the other side a few feet from the head as well. The room was lit by the lights on the ceiling that was made of fiberboard.

**Then a half hour later—**

_Oh I wish Kevin would wake up now, I'm so scared and not sure what to do if he dies but it's nice his mom and siblings are here and it makes me feel better that they are here. But I wish Kevin would wake up. Wait a minute, what's going on? Is he finally waking up? Kevin?_ Lucy thought to herself.

"Kevin? Hey honey." Lucy, Kevin's mom and his siblings got up, went near the bed then Ben went to get a doctor.

The doctor came in after the brother came in and examined the patient and left. The took a look at Kevin then they visited for quite some time.

"How are you doing?" His wife asked.

"Okay, just tired." His brother laughed and they talked for awhile then his siblings and mom left.

"I'm glad you are okay. You had me worried for awhile." They were holding each other's hand.

"'Um Luce, I'm really sorry to say this but you have got to know, your parents and the twins have passed away." He replied in a somber tone.

"What are you talking about? I just saw my mom this morning when she was making breakfast before I left." She replied with a confused look on her face with a slight giggle.

"Really? Jeez. I must have really been dreaming or something."

"What did you see and what did they say?" His wife responded.

"Well, I can't really remember now but they had passed me, Annie left to see her parents and your dad stated that carbon monoxide poisoning killed them then he left when he saw his parents where your mom and grandparents were. Then the strangest thing, I saw the twins running after your dad. Wait, did you say you just saw your mom?"

"Yeah, they came home Friday night but I think something might not be right with them but I could be wrong. When I had dinner with them last night, didn't seem very talkative or even talking to each other at all."

"I guess I was really dreaming." He responded as his wife had given him a kiss.

Later that night just after dinner time Eric came home and Annie was furious at him for not going to church and Detective Michaels had told her something she didn't like nor did he. He walked in through the kitchen to the living room where she met him at the foyer; Ruthie, Sam and David were listening in.


	12. Ruthie's boyfriend

"Eric! Where were you! Why didn't you go to church? Did you see a detective?" She sternly reprimanded him while folding her arms.

"I went to see a detective who wanted my help but I had declined to do so, then I went to see a high school friend and we shot pool then went to his house to talk about things that have happened since we graduated."

"I thought you were going to meet us for lunch but you never showed up." She told him.

"Sorry."

**The next morning—**

"Eric! What is wrong with you? I'm not doing this!" She said angrily as she stormed upstairs as he came into the kitchen looking baffled then made some cereal.

Things didn't get better after that, Eric got angry at Annie because she picked up the kids when he was going to, a week later at the church services, Eric said a nice thing about a female parishioner that Annie didn't like what he said since she felt he was flirting with that parishioner. She got angry at Eric because he was being bossy when he wasn't as to the breakfast and the kids but the miscommunications continued. Then finally one night Eric had enough after he tried to make a move on Annie, as she turned to her side to prevent him from unbuttoning her shirt, she accidentally kneed him in the groin. He didn't talk to her after that for quite some time unless it was about the kids.

One day while Eric was working on his sermon in the den, Annie went to get the phone since it rang.

"What! Okay we will be right there." He ran in the kitchen just as she was hanging up since he heard her yell.

"What's wrong?"

"You were supposed to pick up your youngest sons!" She chastised him.

"No, you were!" he defended himself as she got the keys and they both left the house.

Later that night, they sat and spoke to each other.

"Look, I don't like all these miscommunications and fights we've been having. I've never meant to be bossing you around; I've wanted to take you out to breakfast when you cooked it. I wanted to sleep in when you cooked breakfast and I wanted to make love the night you hurt me and I thought you indicated that you would pick up the twins."

"Oh. I'm sorry that I hurt you the night you wanted to make love to me. I guess we need to speak what we mean." She replied then she kissed him.

Simon's ribs no longer hurt him so he was allowed to practice but only did light tosses to his teammates for a few weeks but he had realized he was not going to play until the last few weeks of school. He supported his teammates and didn't know what he wanted to do when he got out of high school. He realized he would not want to play baseball since most kids who go to college don't make it to the minors or even if they did go to the minors, it takes them years to get to the majors. Simon had not talked to his parents about what his decision was as to baseball but he had some ideas what he wanted to do with his life.

**At Walter Reed Middle School on April 16—**

Ruthie was walking to her class when she saw the boy she fell in love with back in January, while she got excited and nervous as he walked by. She had always felt that way and really wanted to meet him. Some friends of Ruthie had told her that she should meet him and that he has talked about her as to wanting to meet with her but she was too nervous. Later that night she went to bed thinking about him….

"Hi, Eric." Eric had on blue polo shirt, black pants, dress shoes and had a slick back hairstyle that made it look more dark red. Ruthie was wearing a pink dress, low heeled shoes and had her hair was curled up with her bangs to the side.

"Hi. Wow, you are so beautiful Ruthie."

"Why thanks. You are handsome yourself." She said to him with a big smile.

"Gosh, why did it take me so long to meet you but I got bad news…."

"What?" She asked in apprehension as she bit her lower lip.

"I have to go now, Ruthie. Good Bye."

"No, wait! We just met, Eric wait! I want to talk, where are you going!" She screamed as he floated away while the youngest daughter tossed in her sleep then woke up.

She sat up, wondering about that dream or was it? It wasn't as dark as it usually is in her room since the moon was out.

_Why do I get a bad feeling about him?" Ruthie wondered. "Why do I feel scared and I'm not afraid of the dark. I wonder if he's ok but if he isn't, what am I going to do? I really want to meet him and get to know him. _Suddenly she got goosebumps on her arms and the hairs on the back of her neck stood up.

Ruthie tossed and turned but finally got to sleep. She woke up the next morning still feeling tired but strangely sad which she tried to figure out. But no matter what she did that day and into Sunday the feeling never went away but while her brothers were in the living room playing with their action figures, it hit.

"No!"


	13. Aftermath

**Julie is Eric's sister who married a doctor named Hank Hastings no more than 5 years ago. A year after they got married, they had a daughter, Erica, named after Eric and Annie. I think it was a year or two later they have a son, who's name we don't know.**

**Yes, Simon was home that week because he hurt his ribs.**

* * *

Sam asks as he looks at his sister who has a stunned look on her face, "What?"

"What's wrong?" His brother asked as they had stopped playing when Ruthie yelled. They saw their sister on the verge of tears.

Ruthie turned off the TV, tosses the remote on the couch then ran upstairs with Drew trailing behind.

"Drew will make her feel better." David's brother replied then they went back to playing their game as they heard a door slam.

Drew was just outside of Ruthie's door.

In Ruthie's room

"I don't believe it. It's got to be a mistake, maybe he didn't die or his parents," She was laying in her bed, face on her pillow as she began to cry.

The lights were on since it was a clear dark moonless sky when she got up a few minutes later in a rage and began trashing her room. She made a sweeping motion as everything on her desk fell to the floor; she heard the dog barking, trudging to her bed then plopped on it and began to cry herself to sleep.

While Ruthie was in a temper tantrum and crying herself to sleep, the twins were getting in trouble with Drew watching them. Sam and David had moved the chair in the bedroom to the dresser where Annie keeps her bras and underwear. They had taken everything out as well as pulled out Eric's ties that were in the walk in closet, and they saw his bag that held his lap top computer near the dresser but left it alone for now.

"Look, I got mommy's bra." Sam says as he puts his arms through the spaghetti strap and his brother tied a knot on the back of the strap.

"Look, I got daddy's tie." His brother said putting the tie around his neck while his brother tied it.

They boys brought the chair in the bathroom where they saw Annie's make up bag and Eric's shaving bag. They took out some mascara, putting it on their eyebrows, took some eyeliner on their eyes and rouge on their face. They saw some lip stick to put on their face as well as the mirror then they got into Eric's bag. They got out shaving cream as Sam squirted it on David's hand then he put it on his face as Sam did the same when David squirted it on his hand. David got down, wiped the shaving cream off his hand to his dad's tie then went to the bag where the laptop is. Sam saw a perfume that was in a box and took it with him to join his brother where the lap top that his brother opened the lid and turned it on. David had it on his lap and was playing with it when Sam came.

"Oooohhh" They said in amazement when the programs came up.

David clicked on a program his father was working on and when it opened up, he started typing it up as he was working just like his dad. Sam unscrewed the perfume bottle when he asked to try it; he accidentally spilled it on the laptop when trying to take it from him. He got up, got one of his mom's underwear and his dad's tie to help his brother clean it up. Sam took the perfume, screwed it back, put it away then went back to his brother to get the laptop from him. They both started fighting, Sam had one end, David had the other and they tugged it while they had their fingers on a few buttons that made some of the programs to delete. They then put it in his bag and went back to playing with their parent's clothes.

Simon, who had just come home, came up the stairs, heard a commotion and went to his parent's bedroom where he was shocked to see what he saw then started yelling.

"Sam! David! What the hell are you doing! Why do you both smell?"

"We were playing with mommy's perfume and daddy's cream."

"Come here now." Their brother took them into the bathroom then took a washcloth from the drawer, put the toilet seat cover down and wiped off the cream from his brothers face.

"Put the underwear, ties and clothes in the hamper that you were playing with, put the chair back where it was." Their brother told them as he got up, washed off the washcloth before tossing it in the hamper.

Simon went to get some window cleaner to clean off the lipstick on the mirror then had his brother stand in front of him to get the make up remover off his siblings as their father walked in.

"Hi." His elder son said as he stopped rubbing the makeup off and looked up.

"Hi." His youngest boys turn around and welcome him home.

"Ahh!" Their father jumped back when he saw his boys' faces.

"Ahh!" The youngest boys yelled.

"What's going on?" Their father asked irritated tone of voice while his son had started on cleaning up his other sibling.

"We were playing dress up." David responded as he took a few steps to Eric.

"Why do you smell?" He waved his hand back and fourth then stated, "take care of your brothers." He ran into the kitchen where he remembered there was Apple pie in the fridge.

"That was weird." Simon thought to himself when he finished up cleaning his brothers face then told them to get ready for a bath.

They trotted ran to their room while he cleaned up the mess, turned off the light in the bathroom then turned off his parents' room light and headed for the bathroom turn on the water.

In Ruthie's room

Ruthie's subconscious

"Hi again beautiful." He wipes her tears with his hand and caresses her face while he stands in front of her.

"I wish I got to meet you. I think I fell in love with you when I saw you but was too chicken to meet you and I wish you and your parents didn't die." She quivers while she tells him as she stands in front of him also.

"I know. It's meant to be, maybe we weren't meant to be together but you will find someone, some day."

"I know but I just think you are so cute and if you had any girlfriends, she would have been the luckiest girl." He blushes.

"Thanks. You take care of your brothers and just wait; you will find the right guy."

"Ruthie! Wake up!"

A voice is heard in a loud, angry tone…


	14. Where's Ruthie?

"Ruthie!" Her elder brother woke her up.

"What?" She had turned to her side, propped her elbow to sit her upper torso up to see who was talking to her.

He knelt down to turn on her light then sat down on her bed turned towards her to see her sad, tear stained face that looked a little red around the eyes.

"What's wrong?" He asked passionately when he saw her face.

"I don't want to talk about it? Now what do you want?" Asked in an annoyed and sad tone of voice.

"You are in trouble with dad and mom because you were not watching the twins."

"What were they doing?" His youngest sister asked irritated.

"They were playing dress up and well, I caught them and cleaned them up but unfortunately dad saw me cleaning them up. Dad does not know I am talking to you he's taking a breather, I think. He probably will talk to you tomorrow." Her elder brother who bunked with her when she was a little girl replied.

"Fine, just go away cause I don't want to talk about it."

"Okay but if you are embarrassed to talk to dad or mom, you know I'm always here for you."

He gave her a kiss on the cheek, turned off her light, left the room to go downstairs and watch TV.

**The next day—**

Ruthie was at school and heard about Eric and his parents. Overcome with emotion and distraught she asked, got permission to go home and Annie was trying to figure out during the car ride why she wanted to go home so early.

_What is wrong with her? Why does she look sad, is someone harassing her? Nah, she wouldn't a bully get in her head or is he threatening her that mad her back down? Oh I'm worried about her. What am I going to do? She just looks like someone trashed her but who and why? _Annie thought to herself.

After they got in the front door, Eric was just walking to the den from the kitchen when he sees Ruthie, trots over to her, gets on his knees and gives her a big hug.

"You know I will always love you honey. No matter what you did." He told his youngest daughter.

"Thanks dad. I love you too."

"And we'll talk about last night later. Okay." He had his hand on her head and smoothed her hair.

"Okay." Her face full of sadness as her father noticed it as did her mother when driving her home.

She then walked away from her parents, ran upstairs to her room, closing the door and laying on her bed face on the pillow.

Eric was retyping a document that he couldn't find since it may have been deleted, he was in a bad mood the rest of the day. Evening came as Ruthie and her parents were talking to her in the living room; her parents were on the couch and she was just across from them.

"Ruthie, you should have been watching the boys because they could have fallen down the stairs and gotten hurt or set fire to the kitchen, or calling 911 when there is no emergency," She sat quietly as they lectured her more, "you will be asked to watch them again since we feel everyone deserves a second chance and do you have anything to say?"

"I'm glad they didn't get hurt and I don't have anything else to say and can I go to my room?"

"Sure." They looked at her with confusion as she got up and clomped up the stairs.

"What's wrong with her? Something funny is going on here." He asks then states.

They go upstairs to their daughter's room who tells her she didn't want to talk about what was bothering her so they went downstairs to watch TV.

At the Garage Apartment----

"How are you feeling?" Mrs. Kinkirk asked her husband as she sat next to him on the couch.

"Okay, I just wish I can go back out on the street but will have to wait till July to go back with my partner on patrol. Desk Duty is hard." She had put her head on his shoulder as they both had their feet propped up on the table watching TV.

"I know. I'm just glad you are here, that's all that matters." He had smiled when she said that then kissed. His mom, and siblings went back to New York.

"So how are your parents? Do we need to find out how to help them?" He asked since he was concerned that they seemed to be having problems.

"No, I think they worked it out. I hope."

**April 24th on a Saturday afternoon**

Everyone was out of the house while Ruthie got ready for the memorial service that was ten miles away to the east of Glen Oak. She put on a pair of black slacks, white button down long sleeve blouse and black dress shoes then went downstairs to write a note. She left it on the counter then went outside to the garage, put on her bike helmet, elbow and knee pads then rode her bike to the church. The service was at 4:30 and it would take her 20 minutes to ride her bike down there.

On the right of Ruthie were some shops, stores and a gas station. On the other side were just trees and a sign saying a cemetery that was a hundred yards away that Ruthie could see. There was a ditch on that side and some signs. She also was able to see the cemetery and used it as her landmark to not pass when she made a right to the street, where the church was.

Another twenty miles down that road was Santee, just outside of Glen Oak; down the street past the cemetery, 10 miles away was a neighborhood called Temecula.

She sat at end of the last pew, tears fell as they talked about Eric and his parents, it lasted an hour then they would be laid to rest the next morning. She saw some of Eric's friends who had seen her at school when she was at her locker and they sat with their parents.

An hour later everyone had left, Ruthie stayed a few minutes longer as she sat back but ended up falling asleep. Two hours later she wakes up to darkness and she felt for her helmet, and pads as she put them on and used her hands to on the to find the door and the door to the outside. Then she got pelted by rain, as she rubbed her eyes, she was shocked to see a beautiful sunny day turned into a very dark, cold, wet and blustery rain.

Ruthie rode her bike in the rain then made a right turn but she couldn't even see the cemetery cause it seemed as the whole area was pitch black so she rode until she rode past a road that was now a creek because of the rain. She was freezing and was struggling to stay afloat as she was swept away in a ditch till she felt something and grabbed on to it. As she opened her tear filled eyes, she saw nothing, no cars and no lights on as her heart pumped fast while she froze with the rushing water thrashing past her.

* * *

Author's notes: Santee is a small town just twenty miles east of San Diego, Temecula is about 60 miles to the north of San Diego. 


	15. Chapter 15

**Because the ratings system has changed, I will have to change the rating to T since it used to be K+. I just want to be safe. **

**

* * *

7 pm at the Camdens—**

"Ruthie is 5'3" tall, black hair and brown eyes. She has her hair down, she was last seen wearing light denim jeans, dark blue pullover shirt with white, and gray lines across the chest of the shirt." The police officer said on the radio while Simon and Eric were in the van, Kevin and Lucy in his car driving around looking for her.

**In the van—**

"I called all of Ruthie's friends and one of them said that she was going to a memorial service for some boy who was tragically killed with his parents in an auto accident." He told his father who was driving.

They were stopped at a stop light as Eric turned and looked at his son with fret since he had no idea what was going on with his daughter but realized it when he was told. The rain was still pelting the car and city with tons of wind as they both headed east since that is where the friend had stated where the memorial was.

Santee was pitch dark, it must have been a major power outage and they even passed the street where the memorial service was. The headlights were showing the wet road and they could see a river on the right side then they thought they saw something or someone on the post of a sign then realized it was Ruthie.

_Oh no! I can't believe that's Ruthie. Oh man! How are we going to get her out of there? Well, I hope we can get her cause she looks like she's trapped. She looks so scared. I'm scared for her too and want to hold my baby. _Eric thought to himself.

As Simon got the rope from the back seat, his dad parked the car 20 yards from where Ruthie was since the water was rushing so fast; then they got out of the van, rain pouring on their backs as Simon put tied the rope around his waist. Because of the amount of rain pouring, the ditch was practically a river as the water rushed through Ruthie and standing water rose to their ankles. Eric was holding the rope as his son went to the ditch ledge, looked where his sister was since she was lit up by the headlights and he got in the blustery cold water that rushed him to the post. His father kept a tight grip on the rope as he walked slowly so his son can get to Ruthie since the rope was 4 feet long and she was 5 feet from Eric.

Just as Simon got in the water, it swept him towards Ruthie as he stroked like a swimmer to her then grabbed the post and she held took her hands off the post, putting her arms around her brother. Simon let go of the post while his sister had her arms around his neck and he tried to help his dad by doing the butterfly stroke while he pulled. The cold water rushing through his kids as Eric pulled on the rope as he struggled to hold his balance. The rain has finally stopped, the water in the ditch was slowly going down but the father has his knees bent, leans his weight back as he pulls the rope.

_Getting so tired, but I got to keep going cause it looks like Dad is having trouble. She is holding on to my neck with her legs wrapped around my waist and now it's stopped raining. I'm so cold and hungry. I need to go faster now since it has finally stopped raining and the water seems to stop acting like a river. _He thought.

He strains as he pulls while his neck and face begins to turn red then a blue car coming from the east slows down as they see what is going on then pulls over. Two people come out of the car as Eric collapsed from exhaustion and it started to rain heavily. Both men, strong and bulky looking pull those two out with four pulling motions then as the kids are on land, they leave in a hurry.

"What was that?" Simon asked after he heard the car doors slams and screeching tires.

"I don't know but how long has dad been out?" She asked as she noticed her dad on the blacktop.

"I think we were rescued by two good Samaritans and they just left." Simon said as he got up as well as Ruthie and they hugged each other then ran to their dad.

Eric was just waking up to seeing heavy raindrops fall on his face as he put his hand over his eyes and saw his two kids looking at him.

"Simon? Ruthie?" Eric asked in happiness but was too weak to get up but they helped him to the car and he told Ruthie he wanted to hold her. Simon pulled the lever to the passenger seat back, Eric climbed in slowly since he was so tired and Ruthie climbed in, on top of Eric as he was holding his baby. Simon got the blankets from the back seat then put them on his dad and sister then got the other one to put around him and he started driving.

Simon started to drive then eventually getting back to Glen Oak, he decided to take his pale looking, tired dad and his sister who was in the water for so long to the hospital. After arriving there close to the emergency room, he got out, went inside to tell the nurses that his dad, he and sister needs to be looked at because they were in water for long period of time. The nurses got his dad and sister, he went to park the car and came back so they checked him out too; the nurse called Annie who came over with a police officer who was on the case of Ruthie being missing.

"Simon? Are you okay?" Annie asks her son just as she walks in to near his bed.

"Yeah, I'm okay.. I just feel cold but I think we will be okay." He tells her.

After she walked out, she went down the hall where Ruthie was in the room talking to a police officer.

"Ruthie? Are you alright honey?" She walked in and gave her daughter a hug, her daughter hugged back.

"I'm fine mom. Just tired also I finished eating but still feel hungry."

"I'm so glad you are okay but--." She started but was interrupted by the nurse. "Ma'am, I'm sorry but visiting hours are over for the night."

She gave her daughter a hug as she did the same then left, also she went to see Eric for a minute who was asleep so she went to talk to the doctor who told her they can go home tomorrow. The next day after going home the Camden parents and their daughter talked about what she was doing that could have cost her and her brother their lives.

Towards the end of May, Eric had a meeting with the church board about a mission he and other ministers in the state were about to embark; they were told to think about the mission since it could be a long one.

Eric then went home that day, saw his wife was in their room finishing the laundry, he closed the door and she looked towards him with a smile.

"Hey. What are you so happy about?" She asked him as she got a little scared and didn't smile anymore.

"I think you should sit down first." He tells her then they both sit on the edge of the bed, "some of the ministers from around the state are going on a mission to Iraq as missionaries." She looked at him shocked and Eric then left go to see what the twins were up to.


	16. Chapter 16

Eric called Lucy to have her and Kevin meet him in the living room then he went upstairs to call his two kids while the twins were playing with their toys.

"What's going on dad?" She asked as she sat down with her husband sitting next to her. Simon and Ruthie were on the couch as well.

He rubbed his hands as he sat down on the couch across from them, Annie who still was shocked walked downstairs to listen in on what her husband was going to tell them.

"Some ministers from around the state have volunteered to go on a missionary trip to Iraq."

"What!" His three kids and son in law yell out loud in anger and shock.

"I am going to go to Iraq in late June. " He tells them.

"You can't go. It dangerous and what if you…what if…dad! You are not being fair to us or mom!" His son yells at him sternly.

"Yeah. I heard about the contractors and some missionaries being killed or taken hostage. Dad, it's too dangerous." His elder daughter told him. Annie quietly went back upstairs to her room, closed the door and plopped on the bed while started to cry.

"Dad, why do you have to go? It makes no sense." His youngest daughter asked then told him.

"Because a person has to follow their calling and I feel that God is calling me to Iraq to minister." He tells them.

"But dad, what about your calling to your family? And I'm worried you won't come back alive." She tells them near tears as Simon puts his arm around her.

"I have to go believing that God will keep me safe and I will return to my family."

"How do you know that? That place is worse than the job I have as a police officer." His son in law tells him as the phone rings.

Eric answered the phone while everyone scattered thinking about what the father and father in law had said; Ruthie and Simon went to their rooms while Lucy with her husband at tow went to the garage apartment.

_My dad is going to Iraq. Oh man! What if he dies, what if they kidnap or torture him? What's going to happen to us when he is gone? _Ruthie thought to herself.

Later that day Eric told his youngest boys that he was going to a foreign country to help with spreading peace and god's message to them. Since his announcement Matt, Mary, Simon and Annie quit talking to Eric while Ruthie and Lucy used up their time to spend time with him when they could as well as the twins. Suddenly late June came and it was time for him to go to the airport with the other ministers and Annie her kids and Kevin went to say goodbye to him as they cried. They gave him hugs and kisses since they had no idea if he would come home alive and as the airplane took off they watched it fly out towards the horizon heading east. Within minutes the plane got smaller at the same time they watched it on a clear blue sky as it became a dot then they went home.

A month later Annie was in bed having a dream—

"Wow. I can't believe how much of a chaos this is." One of the ministers from neighboring Santee said.

"Yeah. I think we should have waited till things died down before going." Eric said in frustration.

"I'm really scared. I can't wait till September when we finally go home." Another female minister said who was from Poway which was a 6 hour drive from Glen Oak.

They were in a van when they drove into Baghdad coming from meeting with the Iraqi people when the van was ambushed—

"NO!" Annie wakes up crying then thought about her husband in Iraq as she laid back down.

She had dreams like that for a month and a half.

_I'm worried about dad. Dad has always called twice a week but he didn't call for two weeks which got mom worried. Then just a week ago there was a tape of him and others shown on the news with their captors who wanted ransom for Iraqi POWs. The twins saw it and asked me about it._ Simon thought to himself.

Flashback

"Simon! Simon! Daddy's on TV!" Youngest boys of Eric and Annie ran to the kitchen where their brother was eating.

He turned to look at them, they looked scared. He got up, walked to the living room with them in tow and saw their father on TV. He looked scared, dirty, tired, hair messed up he was wearing jeans, shoes and blue crewneck shirt. Eric had stated his full name, where he lives and what country he is from while four masked men stood behind him with guns. They were what looked like an empty room but the TV then went to the news of the chaos going on in Fallujah as well as Kirkuk. Simon turned off the TV, his brothers looked at him, he sat down on the couch, they sat on the table.

"What is going on with daddy? Did they take him?"

"Yes, they did take him, as well as other missionaries." He told them as he looked at their faces of worry.

"Why? What did dad do wrong? Is dad going to be okay?"

"Dad did nothing wrong. There are people who don't want the country to do well. I don't know if dad will be okay. I hope so. I love you guys." He tells them cautiously then they get off the table and get a big hug from their brother.

End Flashback

A few days after that video tape was shown the four hostages who were shown were found dead on a street near Tikrit but dad wasn't one of them. I hope he is still alive.

Simon falls asleep then hours later he is woken up…

"Simon… Simon wake up." He groggily opened his eyes as he turned towards the double doors when he saw the person calling to him.

The moon was out that made the room a lot less dark but he could still see the phantom sitting on the bed then he rubbed his eyes and saw who it really was.

"Take care of your mother, sister and brothers please son. I know you will do a good job." He said as he vanished.


	17. The end

He was wide-awake when he saw the clock on his nightstand near the bed, it was 4:30 am in Glen Oak, 3:30 pm in Baghdad. He lay back down; thoughts ran through his head about what he saw while he got a bad gut feeling.

_Does this mean dad is gone? Am I going to have to take care of everyone now? I hope Lou is at the church in a few hours, I can talk to him see what he knows_. He thought to himself.

He never went back to sleep, just looked at the ceiling, tossed and turned. He sat up and turned on the light from the lamp on the nightstand.

He thought about his dad as to if he was gone or it was his imagination that he saw a ghostly figure.

**The next day at lunchtime—**

Annie, Simon and the twins were home; Lucy, Ruthie and Kevin were out to lunch. Simon had not told his mother about how he feels about his dad or even what he thought he saw the night before. The doorbell rang, Simon went to get it but his mom followed behind since she was worried about something.

Simon opened the door, saw Michaels and Lou, he gave a scared look on his face then closed the door. Lou and Micheals looked at each other while MIcheals scratched his head at what happened but they both understood. Simon had his back to the glass when his mother gave him a curious look and asked who was at the door.

"Come here, mom." he pulled his mother close to him then hugged her while she hugged him back not knowing what is going on.

_I keep getting a bad feeling all day and when the doorbell rang, I wanted to see who was at the door. But Simon closed it and is now hugging me, I think he knows something. I'm going to have to tell him to open the door even though I'm worried about the bad news that might come._ Annie thought to herself.

"Simon? What's wrong?" She asked her son in a worrisome tone.

"I've been having a bad feeling about dad today and um... Michaels and Lou are at the door."

"Well you will have to open it son, we won't know what is going on if you don't." She tells him even though she really did not want him to.

"I know mom," they moved away from the door, Simon opened it.

Michaels and Lou had a very grimed look on their face when they said hi to the Camdens. Lucy, Ruthie and Kevin came home when they see the assembled people in the living room. Michaels sat next to Lou on the couch, Lucy and Ruthie sat next to their brother while they asked what was going on since they got a bad feeling when they walked in.

"Last night our time, yesterday Baghdad time…" Lou started then tears started to fill his eyes, "a body was found on a street near a mosque in downtown Tikrit. The U.S. military personnel examined the body, and saw it…." He stopped.. hi lips quivered.

They looked at him with worry; they felt like the weight dropped on them.

"Is he dead?" The now widow Camden asked. She stifled tears as Simon rubbed her back. She had her elbow on her knee, hand on her forehead, not looking at Michaels or Lou.

"They discovered the body…to be of Eric's." Lou cried.

Simon and Annie told the twins about what happened to their father then family came from all over the country. All the Camden kids, Eric's sister, brother in law, his parents came for the funeral.

A week after his body was flown to Glen Oak, they had a memorial service for him and it was televised since he did so much for the people of Glen Oak who cried.

Eric's father consoled Ruth, everyone consoled each other as they cried. Finally, Eric was laid to rest near Jenny and Charles.

He looked down; saw his family in mourning shaking his head.

"I really shouldn't have gone to Iraq. Please take care of my family."

* * *

Sorry to make this so short, I just wanted to get it over with. 


End file.
